Hoeing machine



Jan. 7,1941. v U -nc u 2,228,172

HQEING MACHINE FiledA ug. so, 1959 Patented Jan. 7, 1941 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOEING MACHINE Georg Graf Liittichau, Prausnitz, Bezirk Liegnitz,

Germany Application August so, 1939, Serial Ne. 292,702 In Germany September 27, 1938 3 Claims. (01. 97-47) This invention relates toa hoeing machine pro- View on an enlarged scale of the lower portion of vided with power-driven rear Wheels and means a weed stripper; and

permitting the operation of the machine by one Fig. 6 is a side view, .partly in section, of a person. modified weed removing device. The known types of hoeing machines equipped Themachine frame I formed of section irons is 5 with power drive for the rear wheels follow in provided at its rear end with a shaft 2 supporting theirdesign that of animal-drawn machines and the power-driven rear wheels 4 preferably proare so constructed that one person guides the vided with gripper tires 3. Drive is effected by front part of the machine and operates the drivan internal combustion engine 5 disposed on the ing engine and asecond person conducts the 1atrear cross struts of the frame I, which is pro- 10 erally and vertically movable hoeing frame atvided with a coupling clutch 6 and a two speed tachedto the machine behind the rear wheels, Control ear 1 and which drives the sprocket i0 takes care of adjusting the cutters as to the of a differential gear H by means of a pinion 8 proper working depth and position relative to the and a lChain TWO OH S S 12 of the rows and must also periodically remove the weeds d e e i r H are suitably disposed in the 15 collecting on the cutters. center of the frame I, and each end thereof pro- It is the object of the invention to improve J' beyond the sides of the frame I is keyed a hoeing machine fitted with power-driven rear to a sprocket I3, the two sprockets I3 forming wheels so th t only one person i required f the driving wheels of the chain drives acting upon operation, and this end is attained by arranging the two real Wheels 4 and Comprising each a 20 t hoeing frame b t t from; wheels chain l4 and a sprocket I5 secured to the inside trolled byan automobile steering device from the of e rear Wheel 4; drivers seat near the rear axle and the power- The operatin levers for the rivin en ine 5 driven rear wheels so as t b laterally di are arranged as in motor-driven vehicles near 5 placeable relative t th front wheels a seat I6 on the re-armost cross strut of the frame ing at the drivers seat besides the wheel for T013118 left of the Seat a Pedal o p steering the front wheels and guiding the shares ailing the Clutch 5 is pos t o ed, and t0 t e right or cutters and the engine operating meansalever g pedal a manually p a ea 9 for vertically adjusting the hoeing frame which is Shifting lever are provided- AS these Parts articulated to the rigid front part of the machine are eneral y known, they are indicated in the fram and tt ith balance Wejghts drawing merely by dot and dash lines. For clear- To remove the weeds from the cutters or shares 5 Sa e, Chain uards are also omitted in the a lever is disposed near each cutter, which is w Which must of Course be Provided n the usually retracted but may be moved toward the actual uctiOn an ay be of known type.

cutter together with means for gripping weeds The. frame I is higher in front than in the rear 35 that have collected in front of the cutter, and all and possesses a vertically en in front porthese levers are controlled from the drivers seat bion fitted With S ub axles 2|, 2! for the two by a' manually operable rocking lever which is resteerable front Wheels By being articuturned to inoperative pasmon by Spring action lated through rectangula-rly projecting levers 23 40 to a joint cross rail 24 both stub axles 2|, 2! are 40 The means for removing the weeds from the cutters are preferably formed as tongs whose jaws shut during forward motion of the levers and open during the return motion when they are out so'coupled that they can be simultaneously and uniformly moved together with the front wheels 22, 22 which are smaller than the rear wheels 5. The cross rail 24 is engaged by a lever 25 which ng of m ff is positioned on a shaft 2'! vertically arranged in 45 i The invent on 1s illustrated by Wa O example the frame I and carrying on top a steering worm 1n i accompssyms WhIQh sector 26. A steering wheel 28 in front of the F ure 1 1s a pla View Q the hoeme machine seat I6, which is fitted witha fixable hand-operaccording to the invention with the weed removated gas lever 29 in addition to the gas pedal I8 50. ing means omitted; near the seat, serves for operating the sector 26 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the machine by means of a steering column 30 and a steering on the line A-A, of Fig. 1 worm 3| to shift the cross rail 24 to the right Fig. 3 is a side view of the weed removing or left in consequence whereof the front wheels means; 22, 22 are deflected accordingly and the machin Rigs-i and 5 are, respectively, a side and top. changes-itsdirectionof travel.

cally adjustable relative to the machine frame 1.

to facilitate starting and stopping of the cutters or shares 33 or regulation of their working depth but cannot be moved sideways relative to .the frame as it is rigidly secured to the strong levers 34. The cutters 38 are accurately guided as to the rows solely by the steering action of the front! wheels 22, 22, though the cutters 38 are adjustably disposed in known manner on the frame 36 for adaptation to different spacing of rows.

In the construction shown the hoeing frame 36 comprises two channel irons disposed one after the other and held together by cross rails, and the cutters 38 forming two rows staggered relative to each other are attached to the channel irons by means of a known parallelogram guide 39, each parallelogram 39 being the usual way fitted with a guide roll, 40 which travels in front of the cutter 38 detachably secured to the parallelogram by a clamping screw.

The hoeing frame 36 is adjusted as to height by means of a lever 4| disposed near the seat I 6 and movable along a segment 43 by a pawl 42. The manually operable lever 4! couples through an articulated rod 44 two upright levers 45 movably arranged on the machine frame I, the lower forwardly bent ends of which support two chains or, as shown, two shorter articulated levers 46 which engage two suspension or hinge points at :the rear channel iron of the frame 36 to sup-.

port the frame. It will be seen that by turning back the lever 4| the frame36 will be raised from the ground and that reversal of the lever motion causes lowering of the frame. The supporting levers or arms 34 of the frame 36 rotate with the shaft 33 while the levers 35 supporting the balance weights 3'! are simultaneously raised or lowered, so that the cutters 38 can be brought into operative or inoperative position and adjusted as to working depth without anyefiort by a person occupying the seat l6 who needs only one hand for carrying out these operations.

This one-man machine is completed by the provision of a device for the periodic removal of weeds collecting on the cutters 38, which, can also be operated from the seat l6. In the construction shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 a threefingered stripper 48 provided with barbs 41 is for this purpose positioned to the right of each cutter 38, which can be moved out of the inoperative position indicated in solid lines in Fig. 3 into the operative position shown in broken lines to cause the fingers 4'! to move into the weeds disposed in front of the cutter 38. During return of the stripper into initial position the weeds are entrained and after repeated to and .fro motion of the stripper levers completely removed from the cutters. The strippers 48 are adjustably and detachably arranged on rearwardly curved levers 49 non-rotatably secured to two continuous shafts 59 of the frame 36. Each shaft 59 is further provided with an upright lever 5| articulated to the front end of. a rod 52' whose rear end is articulated to across pin of i a swinging lever 53 positioned near the. seat [6 on the machine frame I. When the lever 53 is turned back against the action of a spring 54, both rods 52, 52 are simultaneously rearwardly displaced in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3 whereby the strippers 41, 48 are brought into operative position indicated by broken lines. The hand lever 53 is then returned to initial position by the cooperation of the spring 54 and supported by a fixed stop 55. By repeatedly moving the lever 53 to and fro the operator in the seat l6 can completely remove weeds from the cutters 38 without requiring any assistance and without interrupting the operation of the machine. The strippers 41, 48 do not interfere in any manner with the raising of the frame 36 as ample opportunity of motion is insured by the flexible connection of the rods 52 with the operating lever 53 and of the levers 5| with the rods 52,

Fig. 6 shows a construction of the strippers in the form of tongs whose jaws 56 in the normal retracted position of the stripper levers 49 are each held in spread position ready for operation by a double conical spring 51 which is not so easily afiected by foreign matter. When the hand lever 53 is operated and by a linkage of the type described the stripper levers 49 with the tongs 56, 56 are caused to slide forward in oblique direction, the lower jaw 56 engages the right-hand side of the cutter or a special guide face thereof. The two jaws 56, 56 of each pair of tongs are united by a pair of toggles 58 the vertex of which is provided with a slot guide 59 in consequence whereof the two jaws 56, 56 of each pair of tongs are uniformly shut during further motion of the levers 49 and grip theweeds in front of the stem of the cutter, which during return of the levers 49 are drawn to the rear and finally released behind the stem when at the upward motion of the levers,49 the tongs are lifted off from the cutters and the jaws 56, 56 are spread apart again by the springs 51.

In a machine constructed in the manner described the driver has all means required for starting and operating the engine within easy reach and, moreover, can quickly raise the hoeing frame or adjust it to proper working depth of the cutters without much effort. As contrary to the usual constructions the hoeing frame is not laterally movable but attached to the machine frame so as to be non-displaceable sideways, the cutters are guided along the rows exclusivelyby the steering of the front wheels from thedrivers seat arranged so that the operator has a free view of the hoeing frame with its shares and of the area to be worked. Proper guiding of the tools can thus be readily effected by operating the steering wheel in front of the drivers seat, and one man, without requiring any help, may start, operate, turn and adjust the machine, so that the second man needed at present may do other work. Furthermore, the

new construction does not subject the single known details of the machine, without deviating from the principle thereof.

I claim: 1. A four-wheeled power-driven hoeing machine having a frame and rear andfront wheels,

said rear wheels being carried by a rear wheel axle, a drivers seat supported over said rear wheel axle, a steering device operable to control the front wheels from said drivers seat, tool supporting means carried by said frame between the front and rear wheels, hoeing tools carried by said means, and counter-balance weights supported from said frame for counter-balancing the weight of the hoeing tools and the supporting means therefor, said frame being a skeleton frame and the drivers seat being laterally offset from the longitudinal center line thereof whereby the tools may at all times be observed from the drivers seat.

2. A four-wheeled hoeing machine for operation by one person, comprising in combination a machine frame, front and rear axles and wheels, a power drive for the rear wheels, a drivers seat arranged near the rear axle, a steering gear for the front wheels operated from said seat, a hoeing frame arranged between the front and rear wheels and articulated to the rigid front portion of the machine frame so as to be laterally non-displaceable relative to the front wheels, a plurality of adjustable cutters arranged on said hoeing frame, an adjusting lever provided at said seat for vertically displacing the hoeing frame, balance weights for said frame, a displaceable lever provided with means for gripping the weeds accumulating in front of each cutter and disposed near each cutter, and a hand operated swinging lever for the simultaneous actuation of said levers operable from the drivers seat, said swinging lever being returnable into inoperative position by spring action.

3. A four-wheeled hoeing machine for operation by one person, comprising in combination a machine frame, front and rear axles and wheels, a power drive for the rear wheels, a drivers seat arranged near the rear axle, a steering gear for the front wheels operated from said seat, a hoeing frame arranged between the front and rear wheels and articulated to the rigid front portion of the machine frame so as to be laterally non-displaceable relative to the front wheels, a plurality of adjustable cutters arranged on said hoeing frame, an adjusting lever provided at said seat for vertically displacing the hoeing machine, a displaceable lever provided with means for gripping the weeds accumulating in front of the cutters and disposed near each cutter, and a hand-operated swinging lever for the simultaneous actuation of said levers operable from the drivers seat, said swinging lever being returnable into inoperative position by spring action, said means for gripping the weeds comprising tongs Whose jaws shut during forward GEORG GRAF Lt'iTTIcHAU. 

